Eurus Energy began construction of the Kihoku Wind Farm I repowering project in Kanoya and Tarumizu cities, Kagoshima Prefecture, in June 2025, the company announced on July 4, 2025.
According to the statement, the project will consist of six 4.3MW Siemens Gamesa turbines with total output capped at 20.8MW, the same capacity as the original project, which consisted of 16 1.3MW Siemens units. Eurus Energy expects to commission the power plant in October 2027. Shikoku Electric Power Group’s Yonden Engineering is handling engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC).
The Kihoku Wind Farm I replacement project was certified under the feed-in-tariff (FIT) scheme in FY2020, when onshore wind replacement projects were offered a fixed rate of 16 yen per kWh for 20 years. It is unclear whether Eurus will operate the asset under FIT or convert it to the newer feed-in-premium scheme and sell its output, estimated to be about 52GWh annually, through a PPA.
Eurus began the environmental impact assessment process for the repowering project in 2018. It submitted the final assessment report in June 2023 and received approval from METI later that month.
The original Kihoku Wind Farm I was commissioned in February 2004. It was shut down in March 2023.
Separately from Kihoku Wind Farm I, Eurus also commissioned the 6MW Kihoku Wind Farm II in nearby Kirishima City in 2014. It also owns three other assets in Kagoshima Prefecture, including 960kW and 23MW solar projects in Satsumasendai City and Yusui City, respectively, and a 30MW onshore wind power plant in Kimotsuki City.
